Why does X1 keep such horrible time?

I've noticed on my XG1v4 that the on-screen clock is often wrong. Compared to an accurate clock, it can be several seconds to as much as 2 minutes behind the actual time. Luckily, it doesn't seem to affect recordings as I assume the servers tell it when to start and stop.

As far as I can tell, it only seems to set the clock on the nightly reboot. Despite being heavily tied to servers to do anything, it never seems to synchronize the clock during the day and gets further and further behind. This tends to make hitting INFO for the current program or the guide display the wrong program until it thinks it's the right time.

When I had my legacy iGuide box, the clock was very accurate, within 2-3 seconds at least. I assume it constantly set it while reading data from the OOB data channel.

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Responses

dcfox

Contributor

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387 Messages

5 years ago

Never noticed it but yea it is a min or 2 behind on the onscreen time like info display. The Internet, Iphone and even live news time is the same a min ahead of the box on screen time. Not a big deal for me but did notice it after reading this. The display clock on my old box was accurate.

CCAmir

Gold Problem Solver

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7.2K Messages

5 years ago

Hi andyross, have you tired rebooting your cable box to repair this problem?

Andyr1

Gold Problem Solver

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8K Messages

5 years ago

Given that all X1 reboot overnight, it should keep better time. As noted, it varies from day to day as far as how off it gets. Most of the time, it's just the clock that is off, but every once in awhile the guide itself seems to get behind, too.

CCMorgan

Gold Problem Solver

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3.3K Messages

5 years ago

Hi, andyross. The clock shouldn't be wrong like that. We can swap the box out for you if you're open to that.

osugym

Regular Visitor

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1 Message

5 years ago

My Xfinity Guide has the same problem... up to 2+ minutes behind actual time...
Today I pushed the red record button on my remote to record a program that had started... Later found out that I had only recorded the last 42 seconds of the previous program! :- /
I hope the cable box/DVR doesn't use a battery to keep time like desktop computers (used to?) do!??

XfinityMichaelC

Administrator

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4.4K Messages

5 years ago

Greetings, @osugym! I appreciate you taking the time to reach out to us here on the forums. I hope you are having an amazing day! I apologize to hear of the issues you are running into with the guide being off on time. I would like to have a look at this. Can you please send me a PM with your first and last name so I may further assist you?

To send a private message, please click my name "ComcastMichael" then select "Send a Message" on the right side.

richard_sul

Visitor

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1 Message

4 years ago

I have this same issue. Was anyone able to get this resolved.

XfinityAmira

Official Employee

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4.2K Messages

Hello @richard_sul and @user_ba12ea, thanks for reaching out to us on Forums letting us know you're also running into this problem on your end. This is not reporting as a known issue, so we would be more than happy to further troubleshoot this on our end. Please send us a private chat message to https://comca.st/3fdSsYM send us a Private Chat Message, select the message icon in the top right corner and then search for Xfinity support. With our new Xfinity support chat, you do not need to input the name of a person. Just select Xfinity support and you will be able to speak with the next available specialist.

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4 years ago

Sioux1055

Regular Visitor

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10 Messages

@richard_sul

I don't think it was resolved. Right now my box shows the display at least 2 minutes ahead of the internal time (guide, info, various menu screens are at least 2 minutes behind the actual time). Restarts don't seem to work either. I have also noticed after the nightly reboot, the box is unresponsive or even unavailable until you unplug it and then it seems to work. Also wondering why the restart takes so long (at least 10 minutes).

(edited)

4 years ago

user_ba12ea

Visitor

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1 Message

4 years ago

My box is three minutes slow. Any solution to this?

Andyr1

Gold Problem Solver

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8K Messages

4 years ago

The best you can do is to restart it (hit "A" key then choose restart, or pull the power cord for a 5-10 seconds.) It will still drift worse and worse, and will never be the exact correct time. Most of the time, it does seem to partially correct itself once or twice a day.

user_aad78c

Visitor

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2 Messages

4 years ago

I'm having the same problem...the time on the screen display is 2 minutes behind the time on the box. It messes up everything I try to record...

user_883210

Visitor

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1 Message

4 years ago

I’m having an issue with the time doesn’t display complete numbers and is 1 minute behind.

CCMichelle

Problem Solver

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788 Messages

@user_883210 Thanks for taking the time to reach out to us regarding your cable box and the time display. I would love to get to the bottom of this with you. Can you please reach out through private message with your first and last name, name on the account if different and service address?

(The chat icon is located at the top right of the page. Clicking on the chat icon will bring up a chat box that will allow you to initiate a chat conversation.)
Click the Private Message icon
Click the New Message icon
This will give you an empty "To" line. Type in "Xfinity Support" and then select Xfinity Support from the list.

I no longer work for Comcast.

4 years ago

Tarheel91

New Poster

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2 Messages

4 years ago

I am also having the problem with guide being almost 3 minutes behind the time on the cable box (which is accurate). Tonight a show for which I have a recording set started at 7:00 but wasn’t recording because the guide showed it was 6:57. I had to quickly record the last bit of the previous show so that I won’t miss the first 3 minutes. This is so very frustrating. I don’t see anywhere to change the guide time. It’s all done with computers so you’d think it would be accurate! This box is new to us as of a month ago but it can’t be the box or the times would match.

(edited)

Mr_Kludge

Contributor

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143 Messages

I have also noticed this over the past weeks/months but currently the time is dead on. I haven't suffered any ill effects by it. Recordings seem fine. It's never off by more that 45 seconds or so. Problem seems to come and go. It's been off more than on lately. When off I did notice that the time while in Xfinity apps on the box is correct. seems to just be the time on the display in my experience. Rebooting boxes or system resets do not correct the problem when it happens. All 3 of my boxes are either on time or off by the same amount so it's obviously some kind of system/software issue. Offers to swap boxes for this issue I find silly...

4 years ago

user_38390b

Visitor

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4 Messages

4 years ago

My Xfinity cable box is five minutes behind

Sioux1055

Regular Visitor

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10 Messages

4 years ago

It seems that the issue isn't just a few people but almost everyone who has the X1 box. Why doesn't Comcast just fix the issue with an update so that both the display and internal times are in sync? I know my old box NEVER had this issue. Perhaps the IT group should look into what is different between the old boxes and the X1 and find a permanent solution. It probably is something every simple in the code. I do know that the server is Linux based.

Andyr1

Gold Problem Solver

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8K Messages

On the old legacy/iGuide boxes, downstream data was a low-rate OOB (Out Of Band) channel that was mostly just continuous data of time sync, channel info, and guide data. Only a small amount was directed at a particular box for provisioning and OnDemand data. Most of that data was just sent and boxes would listen in and pick up what they needed.

X1 is more Internet-style, and there is no multi-cast channel it can tune to. All data is just like any other computer or Internet device and requires direct communication. That said, it's still stupid why it doesn't sync with an ACCURATE time source 2-3 times/day. That should keep it reasonably accurate without adding too much data load to the network.

4 years ago

XfinityChristina

Official Employee

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923 Messages

Hi, @Sioux1055.

We'd be happy to look into this further for you. Please look towards the top right hand corner of the screen, there should be a chat icon. Click that icon, search for Xfinity Support and type your message. You won't need to search for a person, just the Xfinity Support handle. Please include your name and address in the message.

4 years ago

Andyr1

Gold Problem Solver

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8K Messages

Just noticed that over the past few days, the time has been much better. Even weirder, today it is about 11 seconds AHEAD, not behind!!

4 years ago

X1

Andyr1

Why does X1 keep such horrible time?

dcfox

CCAmir

Andyr1

CCMorgan

osugym

XfinityMichaelC

richard_sul

XfinityAmira

Sioux1055

user_ba12ea

Andyr1

user_aad78c

user_883210

CCMichelle

Tarheel91

Mr_Kludge

user_38390b

Sioux1055

Andyr1

XfinityChristina

Andyr1

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